Maqam Sikah Baladi is a version
of maqam Sikah with exaggerated
tuning. One way to understand it is by thinking it's
derived from maqam Hijaz
Kar or one of its transposes (in this example maqam
Shadd-Araban).
Both Hijaz tetrachords
have an interval between the 2nd and 3rd notes shown
as 1 1/2 tone, but these notes are actually played a
little closer to each other in such a way to narrow
the large interval. This effect is more exaggerated
in maqam Sikah Baladi to the point where the
2nd and 3rd notes of both Hijaz
tetrachords are moved closer by about a 1/4 tone each.
Maqam Sikah Baladi is also unusual
because although the first trichord is Sikah,
this maqam does not start on a 'quarter tone' like the
other maqamat in the Sikah
family. Usually it starts on a semitone (e.g. C, G,
etc), which makes Sikah Baladi a possible modulation
from a non-Sikah maqam
that starts on the same tonic (e.g. maqam Rast
or Nahawand).
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